Wolves Run at Night
by T3hWh1t3P4nth3r
Summary: What happens when Draco asks Harry for help? How does Hermione feel when she learns she's helping Malfoy instead of Ron, like she thought? What complications arise when a protection ritual gives them more than they had bargained for? Set near the end of 5th year, before the summer of 6th.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: This magnificent plot bunny was a gift from Bemily Q. The characters used belong to J. K. Rowling. Also, this has nothing to do with Beast Within. Just so there isn't any confusion. I hope you like it.

WARNING!: This is rated M FOR A REASON! There is going to be a lot of adult material in this one including male/male and male/female (I'll apologize now: the male/female lemons may not be that great. I've never written one before). If you aren't ok with that, please do not read this story. If you choose to read it anyway, you do so at your own risk. You have been warned.

He could feel his heart beating faster as he drew closer to the tower. _'It's a long shot, but it's all I have…'_ He stood in front of the portrait. When she did not turn to him, he cleared his throat.

"Yes, I saw you," the Fat Lady said, rather harshly. "You do not belong here, Mr. Malfoy. Leave. I will not let you pass, whether you know the password or not."

"I don't want in, I need someone to come out." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who could you possibly need to talk with in THIS house?"

"Potter. Could you send him out?" The surprise was evident on the portrait's face. She went to protest but Draco cut in. "I'm not going to pull anything, alright? I just need to talk to him." He pulled his wand from his pocket and set it on the edge of her frame. He took a few steps back. "Now, will you please get him?!" She looked perplexed for a few seconds, trying to figure out if she believed him or not. Without a word, she strode from the painting.

She returned a moment later and gave a light nod. "He's on his way. He should only be a minute." The Slytherin looked surprised that The Savior had actually agreed to hear him out. "I didn't tell him it was you," the Fat Lady explained, as if reading his mind.

Draco was startled slightly when the portrait gave a lurch and started to open. Harry emerged, the usual smile on his handsome face. It instantly deflated when he saw the blonde though. "What the hell do you want, Malfoy?"

"Will you step out? I would prefer it if our conversation was private. It doesn't concern anyone else in there." He nodded toward the tunnel behind Harry.

The Gryffindor simply scoffed. "Yeah, I'll just step right out so you can hex me and-"

"I'm not going to hex you! I don't even have my wand right now." Harry gave a very skeptical look.

"He's telling the truth," the Fat Lady piped in. "It's here, on the edge of my portrait." Harry glanced and saw the Hawthorn wand lying there. After a second of thought, the Gryffindor stepped out and closed the portrait, grabbing the blonde's wand off the edge.

"I'll just hold on to this then," he said, twirling the wand in his fingers. "As a bit of insurance while we talk: you try anything, I snap it." He smirked as the Slytherin tensed slightly, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

"I wasn't going to pull anything in the first place."

"So, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

Draco straightened himself up as he spoke. Harry was surprised when the blonde bowed his head. "I came to ask for your help. I can't think of anyone else to go to." He raised his silver gaze to meet Harry's of hardened emerald. "Plans have been made to make me a Death Eater over the summer." Harry's eyes widened. Draco shook his head. "I don't want to be a Death Eater, but by refusing to take the Dark Mark I'm putting a target on my back. That's where you come in." He straightened up once more. "I need protection and I would like you to help me with that."

At this point, Harry felt certain that it was a joke. "Are you shitting me? Why the hell should I help a sod like you?" He turned to go back into the common room, but he was stopped in his tracks by Draco's words.

"So, the noble Harry Potter refuses to help an innocent classmate?" He shook his head in mock disappointment. "A student who would be able to provide valuable information on Death Eater activities… Why people say you're intelligent is a wonder to me."

Harry whipped around only to find the Slytherin smirking at him. "And how the hell do I know I can trust you? How do I know you're actually on our side and not theirs?"

Draco gave a shrug. "I suppose you can't know that. But you won't get anywhere in life without taking a gamble or two." He extended his hand to Harry. "So, what do you say? Will you help me? In exchange, I'll relay any information that I can."

Harry glared down at the pale hand, debating the sincerity of the blonde. _'It wouldn't make much sense for him to TELL me that he was going to get the Mark if he actually intended to get it… Then I'd know to look for it… And he's not thick enough to blunder that badly…'_ His gaze travelled up to Draco's eyes. For the first time ever, he didn't see malice gleaming in them. Harry grabbed the blonde's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Fine. I'll help you. 'Help' meaning 'assist' meaning you have to do some of the work too. We still have an hour or so until curfew, so let's go to the library and-"

"The library is useless," Draco stated flatly. "They don't have anything that's even the right class of magic. All I could find were different variations of Protego and other spells. I'm pretty sure that what we need is a form of Old Magic."

Harry sighed in irritation. "Well, did you check the Restricted Section?"

"Twice. There's nothing on Old Magic except for the Dark Arts. I found plenty of history on ancient protective spells and rituals, but nothing on how to perform them. There were loads of references to books by Malcolm The Strange, but…" Draco shrugged. "His books were banned from all schools by The Ministry. Even Durmstrang doesn't have them, and they teach the Dark Arts. I mean, how dangerous are his books if a school like that can't even get them?"

Harry nodded. Draco made a good point. He had to admit, his curiosity was now piqued. "I'm sure you won't be very keen on the idea, but I think Hermione should help us." Harry continued to speak, ignoring the light groan from the blonde. "Maybe she's read something about what we're looking for. And if anyone can help hunt down a book, it's Hermione."

After a minute, Draco nodded his agreement. "Only one problem: she hates me." Harry opened his mouth to speak but Draco held up his hand. "I know: 'She has every right to'. But my point is she'll never agree to help me."

"Leave Hermione to me… I'm sure I can figure something out." Harry ran his hand through his unkempt locks.

Draco nodded. "I believe that's it. You can go back into your dorm now."

Harry turned and started for the portrait, but, again, was stopped by the blonde calling for him. "Hey, Potter." Harry turned. Draco's hand was outstretched. "My wand?" The Gryffindor looked down at the Hawthorn wand in his hand, having forgotten he had it.

"Sorry…" He tossed it back to the Slytherin, who caught it and tucked it back into his pocket. Harry whispered the password so Draco couldn't hear it. He started into the tunnel.

"Oh, and Potter?" Harry turned once more, wondering what Draco wanted this time. "Thank you." With what looked like a small smile Draco descended the staircase, heading back down to the dungeons.

Note: End of chapter one. This was just a chapter to kind of set up the rest of the story. Hope you liked it. I hope to update this story (as well as a few of my others) soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Chapter 2! WOOT! I hope you like it. This is still just the 'research' phase, but it will start getting fun in either chapter 3 or 4. Enjoy!

Everyone strode off the train at King's Cross. People were hugging, crying, and wishing each other a good summer, promising to keep in touch. Harry couldn't believe how fast his fifth year at school had gone.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Hermione came up beside him. "Harry? We should get going. We're blocking the path."

Harry chuckled as he and Hermione moved on. "Sorry… I was just thinking. The year went by really fast, all things considered…"

She nodded. "Yes, it did. I think the summer is going to go rather slowly though. Searching through the entire Black library is going to be quite a project." She grinned widely with a slight giggle. "But I'm completely looking forward to it!"

Harry rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips. "Imagine my surprise… You're sure your parents don't mind that you and I will be the only ones at Grimmauld Place?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, they don't mind. They trust you. And it might have something to do with the fact that they think y-" She slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes going very wide.

"Think I'm what?"

"Nothing!"

"Hermione!?"

She moved her hand away with a small sigh. "They think you're gay…"

Harry's jaw dropped. "Why would they think that?"

She turned to him, rubbing her arm. "Remember when you came for dinner over Easter break?" Harry nodded, still looking confused. "Well, you were complimenting my mum's dishes and curtains and-"

"I was being polite! That automatically makes me gay?!" Harry was getting irritated. He had gotten rather defensive over the last year.

"Well, no, but there were," she searched for the right word. "Manlier ways of being polite: complimenting the food, for example. That's what Ron does…" She could tell Harry was starting to get worked up. "But, hey. They trust you. That's something to be proud about. They rarely trust any boy with me…"

Harry couldn't help but smile as she gave him a hug. "Yeah, I guess you're right. And, I don't have to be all alone or at the Dursley's." Harry grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage. "We should probably go out and grab a taxi." They strode from the station out into the bright summer sun.

000

Draco groaned and fell backward onto the black leather couch, clutching the seventeenth book he'd searched through to his chest. "This is getting ridiculous… All the books we have in our library and not a single one by Malcolm the Strange…" He tossed the book onto the chair on the other side of the coffee table, frustrated with his fruitless search of about eight hours. He let out a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. "If I were a book by Malcolm the Strange, where would I be?" He stayed like that for a good fifteen minutes before bolting upright with a gasp. "Father's study!"

He stood from the couch and strode to the door. He slipped through the corridors silently, hoping that Lucius wasn't home yet. As he reached the open door at the end of the hall he let out a sigh of relief: the room was empty and dark. He slipped through the door, careful not to mess up anything in the office. He made his way over to the bookshelf and began scanning the spines of the tomes.

000

Harry let out a groan as Hermione prodded him in the side with a book. "Harry! Wake up! We've only been searching for four hours." She made her way back over to the dusty desk. "Besides, while you were sleeping, I found loads of books by 'Malcolm the Strange'."

At this bit of information, Harry bolted up. "Really? Where were they?!"

She pointed over toward a corner of the room. "There's a hidden little nook back there. One of the legs of the chair I was standing on gave out and I fell over. I went to catch myself on the wall and… Well, I'm not sure actually." She shrugged. "I guess I must've hit a hidden switch or something. Either way, a panel lifted and there were the books, along with a few other things that just looked terrifying and I really don't want to know what they were used for." She put her hands up and shook her head, trying not to think about it.

Harry nodded, a smile on his face. "Great! Let's get started." He headed over to the desk as well. His face started to fall as he realized that there were far more books than he thought: there were those he had seen littering the desk as well as more piled on the chair and scattered around the floor. "Oh, Merlin… ALL of these?!"

She gave a curt nod. "Guess we had better get started, eh?"

000

Draco was startled slightly when the door gave a creak. He turned quickly, thinking his father had returned early. He gave a sigh when he saw that it was just Daisy, the family house elf. "Daisy, you nearly made me jump out of my skin…"

The elf bowed her head in apology. "Please forgive Daisy, Master Draco. Daisy did not know Master Draco was in here."

"It's fine. You can go about your business. I was just about to leave." He placed the book he had been scanning through back on the shelf. A sudden thought struck his brain. He spun around to face the elf, which was busy tidying up the study. "Hey, Daisy? You wouldn't happen to know if my father has books by Malcolm the Strange, would you?"

The elf's large eyes widened. "Why does Master Draco want books like that? Those books are very dark, sir. Very dark indeed…"

Draco knelt down to look her in the eye. "So, he does have the books then… Where are they, Daisy?"

Daisy looked horrified, her eyes growing impossibly bigger, her voice rising to a higher squeak. "Daisy shouldn't have said that! Daisy must punish herself!" She opened one of the drawers of the desk and put her fingers inside, making to slam the drawer onto her thin digits.

Draco seized her wrist, pulling it away from the handle. "Don't! You don't have to do that, Daisy. Technically, I am your master as well. You aren't disobeying by answering my questions, alright? Now, where are the books?"

The house elf stood as if petrified for a few moments before taking a deep, long breath. She then cast a quick look around, as though worried they might be overheard. Her voice was a soft whisper. So soft, in fact, that Draco had to lean closer to her to catch what she was saying. "Master Lucius is a smart man, Master Draco. Master Lucius knew better than to keep nasty books like that in his home. Shortly after Daisy came to work in Malfoy Manor, Master Lucius ordered Daisy to take the books to Lady Narcissa's relatives." She gave a nod, carrying an air of pride. "And Daisy did it, sir. Daisy knows the house elf that serves the Black home: Kreacher. Kreacher was more than happy to accept the books from Daisy, sir."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a light sigh. "Where exactly is this 'House of Black'? How do I get there?"

At this, the tiny elf shook her head, causing her bat-like ears to flap about. "Daisy cannot say, sir. The home is protected by Fidelius curses and many others that Daisy does not know. Perhaps Lady Narcissa would know how to get there. Unfortunately, Lady Narcissa told Daisy that she would not be home for a few days." Draco gave the elf a confused look. "Your Aunt, Lady Bellatrix, needed your mother's help. That is all that Daisy knows, though…"

Draco stood, feeling the frustration begin to boil in his veins. "Very well, then. Thank you, Daisy. You can go about your business." He strode from the room as the elf resumed her cleaning. _'The books have been gone for four years!'_ he thought angrily._ 'And not only that, but I have no bloody way of getting to them! Potter and Granger better be having better luck than me…"_

000

Hermione groaned as she looked at the clock: it was pushing 7:00 pm and they still had a sizable stack of books to look through. They had been at it until the wee hours of the morning the previous night as well. She turned to Harry. "Why isn't he helping us? It seems like we're doing all the work for him, as usual…" Harry bit his lip in guilt. He knew that Hermione was convinced that they were doing this to help Ron. He simply gave a shrug, not verbalizing a response. "You know what," she said suddenly. "Owl him. Tell him to get over here and help us search through these."

Harry's gaze shot up, meeting hers directly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea…"

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him, looking very much like a stern mother figure. "Oh? And why is that?"

Harry shrugged once more, his response coming out more like unintelligible grunts than words.

She leaned back into her chair, still holding his emerald stare. "Fine. Don't tell him to come. But I won't read another word in one of these books unless he is here to help."

Harry groaned as he stood, going to fetch Hedwig. As he headed out the door, he turned to look at his bushy haired best friend. "Just remember: You are the one that wanted me to bring him here…"

Hermione looked puzzled as she watched Harry leave. _'What's the big deal about bringing my boyfriend here? He makes it sound like I'm going to regret it…"_

000

Draco was pulled from his thoughts by a tapping at his bedroom window. He looked over and was surprised: instead of seeing his black eagle owl, Persephone, he was looking at a snowy owl. With slight hesitation, he opened the window to let the animal in. He recognized it as Harry's owl, but he wasn't sure how it would react to him. Though there was a glimmer of dislike in her wide eyes, Hedwig held her leg out to Draco.

He gently untied the letter, not wanting the owl to find some excuse to peck at him. He pulled a treat from Persephone's dish and gave it to her. She seemed to warm up to him considerably after that. He opened the letter and began reading over The Boy Wonder's chicken scratch.

Ferret,

Trust me, I realize that it's a bad idea. Bookworm wants you to come over here and help us search. We have already found a lot of the books you were talking about. They are very interesting, but there are a lot of them.

~ Nutter

P.S. Bookworm thinks that you're Gingersnap.

Draco wasn't entirely sure why Harry had found it necessary to use code names, but he decided to go with it as he scrawled out a response.

Nutter,

I really don't think this is a good idea. Especially if she is expecting Gingersnap to be the one that shows up. And, on top of that, I don't even know where you are right now. How can I come help you with the assignment?

~ Ferret

Draco shook his head as he wrote his 'signature'. He hated when Harry and Ron called him 'ferret'. He carefully attached his reply to Hedwig's leg. With a hoot, she flew back out the window and was lost among the trees and darkening sky.

000

Harry had to admit, Draco made some good points. But still, if he was going to get Hermione to continue helping him then Draco needed to show up. He started scribbling once more.

Ferret,

I understand that you're scared, but it will be ok. Besides, Bookworm has refused to keep helping unless you show up and start helping. So, like it or not, you're coming.

~Nutter

P.S. It's getting cold. You should light a fire and sit by it.

He waited for Hedwig to return with the blonde's response. He hoped Draco understood what he was planning. About twenty minutes later, he turned to see a snowy owl tapping at the window. He unhooked the letter and read:

Nutter,

I'm not scared! I'm just saying that there could be some serious problems. And you're right: it is starting to get a little cold out. I'll get right on that fire.

~Ferret

000

True to his word, Draco had started a fire down in the drawing room. He had started pacing, waiting for something to happen. After 15 minutes of wandering from one end of the room to the other, Draco heard a sputter from the fireplace. He knelt down beside the flame, looking into Harry's face. "Hi," the black haired boy said, a bit stupidly in Draco's opinion. "So, here's my plan: I Floo over to Malfoy Manor and then we Floo back here together."

Draco gave a nod, getting to his feet. "Works for me."

He stepped back from the fireplace as the amber flames turned green. Moments later, Harry emerged, slightly sooty. He dusted himself off a bit as he spoke. "You should probably grab your things. It won't be done in one night."

Draco looked like he was about to argue, but he shut his mouth. "Fine." He started for the door out of the room. He stopped before he left, shaking his head and giving a light scoff. "Where are my manners?" He turned to look at Harry. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." Though his voice had carried its usual ice, it was the most polite the blonde had ever been to Harry.

As Draco shut the door, Harry felt slightly awkward. The manor was better decorated than his aunt's home but it was exceedingly dark. He could almost feel the Dark Magic that seemed to emanate from every corner of the drawing room. He seated himself in a black leather armchair, not wanting to show any signs of his discomfort when the Slytherin returned. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he saw that there were many lovely accents scattered around the room, most likely put there by Mrs. Malfoy. Beautiful tapestries were hanging on the walls, depicting scenes that were much like the manor: dark but breath taking. The curtains that draped the windows were made of deep emerald green velvet, tied back with silver tassels. His eye was at last drawn to a mirror above the fireplace, its edges a fine silver. Reflected in the glass was an ornate vase which held a bouquet of roses. These roses seemed to be under the effects of a charm: as he admired them, he saw that they changed colors.

"Ochideous Colovaria." Harry turned with a slight start to see the blonde leaning against the doorframe, a bag sitting at his feet. "I conjured them for my mother. It's her birthday tomorrow. I was going to wait until then to give them to her, but after your first letter I figured I wouldn't be here to do so." He scoffed lightly. "Neither will she though…" He caught the somewhat confused look on the Gryffindor's face. "She's out of town. I just found out from Daisy yesterday." Harry felt a little bad for his rival. "So, are we ready?"

Harry nodded, standing from the chair. "If you're ready, then yeah. It was you were waiting for anyway." Draco rolled his eyes and picked up his bag, joining the raven haired boy by the fireplace. "Where is the Floo powder?" Draco plucked a small pouch from the drawer of a nearby end table and handed it to Harry.

The Boy Who Lived took the powder and cast it into the fire, turning it bright green. "Number 12 Grimmauld Place." He and Draco strode into the flame, emerging in the kitchen of the former House of Black.

Draco looked around, his gaze analytical. Slowly, he started nodding his head. "Number 12 Grimmauld… That's right… I knew it sounded familiar when you said it." Harry gave him a 'what-the-bloody-hell-are-you-talking-about' look. "I've been here before. Not in a long time, probably a good 11 years. Then father went and severed ties…" The blonde mentally berated himself. Why was he telling Harry all this? Honestly, of all the people to start sharing his life story with, Harry had been one of the last on his list. He cleared his throat. "So, I suppose we should go and get this over with… I'm sure Granger's waiting…"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I guess so…" It felt so awkward talking to the blonde civilly. He could tell Draco felt the same. "She was still in the library when I left."

They made their way up the stairs and down the narrow corridors in an uncomfortable silence. Harry pushed open the door when they reached it, ducking his head into the room. "Hermione…" There was a shuffling that Draco took to mean Hermione had stood up. He heard her voice, slightly muffled by the door, "So, he's here then?" Harry gave a nod. "Yeah, he's here… But, Hermione…" He sighed. "It's not exactly who you think it is… I should've told you but… well…"

Footsteps started toward the door and Draco felt his heart speed up. _'Moment of truth…'_ He heard Hermione say, "Harry, get out of the way," right before the door was pulled open the rest of the way.

Her reaction was no different than he had anticipated: her eyes darkened with great dislike, her posture straightened incredibly, and her lips pursed into a tight line. She snapped her head to Harry. "What are you playing at?! You tell me that you need me to help you help a friend and it turns out to be Malfoy!? How could you lie to me like that!? I was under the assumption that it was Ron we were helping, not him!" She emphasized her last word with a vicious point at the blonde.

Though slightly wary of her when she was angry, Draco couldn't keep his big mouth shut. "Look, Granger. I know I'm not who you expected and certainly not anyone you would have wanted to show up here tonight. But the fact of the matter is, I asked Pott- Harry for help. Long story short, my father made plans to make me a death eater over the summer but I don't want that. And now I have a target forming on my back. So, will you help me or not?"

Her eyes had gone wide but still held their fire. Quite frankly, she found it rather rude how harshly he had approached the subject. "And why should we believe anything you say. After all, you've been known to lie and over-exaggerate in the past."

"Come on, Granger. Use that logic you're so in love with. Why would I tell you that I was going to become a Death Eater if I actually intended to do it?"

She had to admit that he made a very valid point. "Yes, I suppose even you aren't that thick…" She mentally scoffed at her comment. There were many things that Draco Malfoy was, but she knew that unintelligent was not one of them. She gave a very irritated sigh and strode over to the desk once more. "Fine. I will help, but it's for Harry's sake not yours." As Draco stepped into the room, Hermione tossed one of the books at him. He caught it, but it slammed into his chest. "Get reading."

Note: So, this chapter was a pretty decent length. I hope you liked it and that you were amused by the codenames if nothing else. The next chapter will be the end of the 'research phase' and we will get to the ritual itself. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up.


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